Hero System – Captain Morgan

This another of the character backgrounds, in preparation for our upcoming Hero System campaign. Captain Morgan is the gadgeteer of the group, a pirate from the 1700’s cursed with immortality, who has recently decided it is time to do something of value with his life.

For each character, these are drafts, some of the details may change before the game actually starts as I continue to fine tune.

The year was 1716, and the ship was the Wayfinder. Captain John Morgan, a successful pirate in the Caribbean, led a crew of 50 strong and hardened souls. But the Spanish fleet had chased them for weeks, and finally trapped them in the cove of a previously unknown island.

As the Spanish closed in, the pirates abandoned their ship, and fled into the jungle, the sounds of cannon fire echoing as the Wayfinder was rapidly holed and sunk. By the end of the day, the Spanish were landing their soldiers on the shore as well, to track down and eliminate the pirate threat.

In an attempt to save as many as possible, the Captain ordered his men to split up, and each to hide or attempt to escape the best they could. As a large group, they would be easy to track, but as small parties, they might have a chance.

So it was that the Captain found himself alone on a deserted island, chased by the Spanish, when he came upon a hidden cave. Decorated with Incan markings and artwork, it was out of place for as far south in the Caribbean as they were. But with no other options, the Captain moved into the cave, hoping to conceal himself and outlast the Spanish.

When he emerged three days later, the Spanish were gone. The Wayfinder was destroyed, and his entire crew was either dead or taken captive. He was marooned on the island. But he didn’t die.

Instead, he endured months of hardship and hunger, enough to drive a weaker man to madness. And still he didn’t die, his will and desire for life driving himself to endure.

Eventually after five years on the island, he finally managed to signal a passing ship who had strayed off the shipping lines. With the name of Captain Morgan long forgotten, he was able to pass himself off as a simple sailor, and thus make his way to the New World to start his life over.

Over the years, the Age of Piracy came and went, and the New World flourished into the United States. Morgan however discovered that time had no effect on him, as his body no longer aged. Wounds he suffered healed rapidly, and alcohol no longer had any lasting effects. In time, those he cared for died and withered, and soon he found himself alone in the 21st century, a Captain without a ship.

Over the years, he resumed his original title – the name of Captain Morgan no longer holding the fear or dread that it once did. He was even amused when it became a household name with a popular drink (a random meeting in a pub, with a liquor manufacturer).

Having no concerns of injury, the Captain began to enjoy his life again, all the joys and distractions that were common in his time were fashionable again, save for the robbery and murder. Here was a time where one could drink and carouse and party their way thru the nights and months.

The events of the City at the turn of the century awoke something in Captain Morgan however. Faced with the destruction brought about by Dr Destroyer, and the untold numbers that were killed, the Captain had to question how he had spent his long years. As a pirate, he had stolen, but it was for the betterment of his men and the enrichment of the downtrodden – he has stolen more as a rebellion against the authority than as a means to wealth. But in recent times, he had become lost in the party and lost his original motivation.

With the destruction, he set aside the party, and re-focused on his actual desires – to fight for the people and rebel against injustice. With this new found purpose, his joy of life returned, and his long life became more of a gift than the curse he had come to believe it was.

Unfortunately, having been out of practice for so long, it was several years before any such progress could be made. It was not until he met the man calling himself Tarot that he finally found his path, taking it as a sign from so long ago, that this was where he was meant to be.

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